I am in flight home from another ‘retreat’ experience that I had the amazing good fortune to lead… again. Retreat #7. I have never blogged about any of them, until now. They are sort of a private experience, until now.
This one was different than all the rest, I hosted it in my humble New York summer home, with slippers on. I carefully chose those that I wanted at this one, sent out invitations and the most amazing circle of women showed up. A new experience for me. Hosting such a retreat in my home, is more vulnerable, more transparent, more raw than the others for me. And what that did is make for an intimate experience for all of us.
The biggest gift of this one, was the fact that those that came together, I have known each person for at least 12 years! AH, what a gift, they gave to me.
One was ready for a BIG leap and wanted to know that she could do it.
Another, was rebuilding from scratch but never happier.
Another, more sad than ever, but her vulnerability lit the way for all of us.
Another, was ready to see her truth and she faced it and embraced it.
One was in her greatest place yet, and realized she is ready for more now.
and I, I was back in my saddle after a long divorce process and loving being fully back. The saddle fit different, in some ways it fit better than ever and at the same time, the fit told me that I had a foundation that would support me in my next leap. What I realized was the amazing gift these women allowed me – the gift of the opportunity to ‘see’ them again after all these years and they were ready for more. What I realized is that lives change when you put 1/2 dozen women in one location for 12 hours and give them room to support each other, share, connect and laugh and grow in nature, in fresh air, with healthy food and with other deeply compassionate women who realize we are never done learning. The world changes every time we do that. The world has 6 more people in it that are ready to use them selves even more to add more compassion, love, more gratitude, more support, more honest business, and more joy to the world. They were ready to be more fully alive than ever before in every aspect of their lives. I expect that the ripples from this experience will ripple on for generations because these women said boldly: ”Once and for all I am….” Whew what committment!
And what I know for sure is that “Once and for all I am committed to a world where we sing loudly with pure joy in our hearts both day and night and when we find someone with their music still in them, we inspire them to hum along too.” (thanks SouthWest for the wiifi!)
